that he wasn't a coward he wouldn't be sick in bed this very minute.
You'd better stay where you are, for you won't find many such snug
hiding places as this, not if you search the big woods from one end to
the other.'

"'If I couldn't take care of myself better than you do I'd hide my
head,' he said, pert as you please. 'Of course, it isn't right to
expect very much of a fellow whose hind legs are twice as long as his
front ones, and I don't suppose you can help being afraid of your own
shadow.'

"Now, I'm willing to admit that I'm not the bravest animal that ever
lived; but it isn't pleasant to be talked to in such a manner by an
impudent youngster like Cheeko's brother, and I resolved that I
wouldn't open my mouth again, no matter what folly he might attempt.
Because I held my tongue he thought he'd make me ashamed of myself,
and went on worse than ever, saying that he wasn't afraid of the
Professor, with all his family behind him; that he wouldn't stay
among the thorns any longer than he pleased and a lot of cheap talk
like that which went to prove that he was as impolite as he was silly.

"All the while he ran on like that he kept working his way through the
thorns, and I could see that the Professor had his eye on him sharp as
a needle. Cheeko's family are all alike, forever thinking they must do
something, no matter how foolish, to show that they are dreadfully
brave, when, according to my way of thinking, they are only proving
themselves silly.

"Well, Cheeko's brother kept creeping nearer and nearer to the edge of
the thorns, looking back at me every once in a while, as if believing
I'd be scared out of my wits because he was so venturesome; but I
never opened my mouth and finally he said with a flirt of his tail:

"'Now's the time when I will show that old hawk how much he knows
about catching squirrels!'

"It was exactly as Cheeko would have spoken, and I could but feel
sorry for him even though he had insulted me. He stood at the edge of
the thorn bushes a minute, twisting and turning his tail as if he
wanted to attract the attention of every member of the club to his
folly, and then out he went, running the best he knew how across the
open space at the foot of the tree.

"Now if you've ever had any acquaintance with the Professor, you know
he's not slow by any means, and Cheeko's brother had given him all the
notice he needed that the foolish squirrel was going to show off
before the other wood fo